


Self-Monitoring Behavior

by chshrkitten



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: F/M, Mirrors, One Shot, Touch-Starved, carlotta being herself (for better or worse), erik being a thief, self-awareness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 08:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16636337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chshrkitten/pseuds/chshrkitten
Summary: “Erik watched as she tried out different expressions in the mirror, turning her mouth from a knife-blade to a rosebud and back again. Standing there, barefaced and clad only in a satin nightgown, she looked so perfectly poised and so totally unguarded that the contradiction would have brought him to his knees in frustration if he wasn't already lying down.”





	Self-Monitoring Behavior

He awoke one morning in her apartment. Of course it was hers: at no point in their ‘relationship’ did he invite her to his domain, and she never brought it up. He couldn't have borne it if she had. 

His vision slowly came into focus, head already beginning to ache from last night’s ridiculously expensive wine, and he watched his whatever she is posing in front of the mirror. Carlotta tossed her head, a gesture that made waves of red hair cascade over one shoulder and let them fall across one green eye. Erik watched as she tried out different expressions in the mirror, turning her mouth from a knife-blade to a rosebud and back again. Standing there, barefaced and clad only in a satin nightgown, she looked so perfectly poised and so totally unguarded that the contradiction would have brought him to his knees in frustration if he wasn't already lying down. 

Instead, he rose on catlike feet, moving silently across the floor until he stood directly behind her. Her eyes flicked up, startled, as he spoke. 

“You know, they say the average woman engages in self monitoring behavior every seven seconds.” 

She laughed, and tossed her head. Small diamond studs glinted in her ears. “So?”

“So, I think you were removed from the study for being an outlier.” He held up one hand, and the mirrored powder compact he had swiped from her purse earlier glinted in his fingers. “Every four seconds, if that.”

Carlotta shrugged, and leaned back against him. With a soft sigh, she rested her head on the crook where his neck met his shoulder, and reached one arm up to sling over his shoulders. Erik had to close his eyes for a moment, and his heart rushed at the casual affection he hated that he had never learned to expect. He felt, rather than saw, Carlotta’s smile.

The whole thing would have been a touching gesture, except that he knew her well enough to know that her eyes were still on the mirror, enjoying the way she and Erik were posed within its gilt frame: Death and the less-than-maidenly Maiden. Poetic, if a bit cliche.

But then again, he was the one thinking about it. Maybe they were both far better at performing than they were at living. 

Most of the time, he didn't really mind that.

“Erik?”

“Yes?”

“Stop stealing my things.”


End file.
